Jember expands digital health and home‑care services

In Jember, Indonesia, the BPJS Kesehatan agency is accelerating the digitalisation of the National Health Insurance (JKN) programme. Citizens can now manage enrolment, update personal data and request medical facilities through the Mobile JKN app, WhatsApp (PANDAWA) and the BPJS online portal, eliminating the need to visit traditional service desks. One resident, Dhia Silmi Danisha, described how the new channels reduced bureaucracy and saved travel time, although she noted that older adults may need extra support to adopt the technology.

Simultaneously, the Jember regency government, led by Regent Muhammad Fawait, has launched a Home Care programme that dispatches about 1,200 health workers to provide basic examinations, medication delivery and tele‑medicine referrals directly to households in remote villages. The initiative targets the elderly, young children, pregnant women at risk, people with disabilities and extreme‑poor patients with chronic illnesses, and also links families with food‑aid and housing‑improvement support. The programme has been praised by the national health ministry and is being positioned as a pilot for nationwide adoption.